


Melt with You

by Moreanswers24



Category: Crooked Media RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends, Families of Choice, Friends to Lovers, Implied Vietreau Endgame, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Multi, Non-Graphic Fighting Scenes, Romance, Sky High AU, World with Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23867557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moreanswers24/pseuds/Moreanswers24
Summary: Being a teenager is hard enough. Being the son of the two greatest superheroes in the world? That is even harder.Sky High AU
Relationships: Ronan Farrow/Jon Lovett, minor Jon Favreau/Tommy Vietor
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21
Collections: Crooked Exchange 2020





	1. Dream of better lives, the kind which never hates

**Author's Note:**

  * For [persuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persuna/gifts).

> You are one of my favorite writers in this fandom and I was honored to be able to write this for you. I hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it

“Come on. Come on. Just breathe.”

From a young age, Jonathan Lovett had had a constant chip on his shoulder, most of which stemmed from his parents. However, this wasn’t your typical example of an inferiority complex. No, this was an outlier.

For you see, Jon Lovett’s parents weren’t your normal kind of parents. They were superheroes; Literal superheroes. In fact, they were the greatest superheroes to ever roam the Earth (or at least the Tri-State area) in a world full of superheroes.

When they weren’t fighting villains, his father and mother ran a box business together. Despite this side job, the Lovetts had been a crime fighting duo since they had graduated high school, with his mother Fran being gifted at the power of flight, unarmed combat, and the ability to make anyone feel guilty for doing something they weren’t supposed to. His father Robert, on the other hand, was virtually indestructible because of his superhuman strength and his ability to hold a grudge. It had been imparted on him very young that he would have to carry on the family legacy, but more recently it had been hammered harder by his father after revealing a part of who he was to his parents.

Luckily, Jon Lovett was a good actor and had made it clear to his father a year ago that there would be no problem. Because if there was something Jon was good at, it was masking real emotions through sarcasm and false bravado.

Unfortunately, there was a problem. Two of them in fact. One: He didn’t have his powers and his parents didn’t know he hadn’t received them and Two: Today was the first day of high school, which in a normal life for someone like him would be hard, but because life wasn’t normal, this high school was a high school for children of superheroes.

He was snapped out of his reverie when he heard the sound of his dad’s feet on the stairs and took a deep breath. This is what he had been practicing all morning: a single lift (even if it was only 40 pounds).

He used all his strength and with a grunt, managed to get the weight a little bit above his chest and back down as his dad walked into the room.

“Come on, Jonathan. Your mother’s got food on the table.” His father glanced at his weights. “Low weights, high rep, huh?”

Jon nodded, even though he had no idea what that meant and sat up, narrowly avoiding hitting his head. “Uh yeah. I just wanted to get in a few sets before school.”

He looked around his room, running a brush quickly through his curls so they wouldn’t be too all over the place, pulled on his best form-fitting sweatpants, and grabbed his backpack. When he went to walk out the room, he saw his dad was still there.

“Big day, huh?” Jon asked nervously.

His dad remained quiet.

“Dad?”

“I just want you to know how proud I am that… you'll be attending my alma mater and someday following me into the family business.”

Jon grimaced and then smiled hesitantly. “You mean the box business?”

His dad grunted. “Right, the box business. On a more serious note, son, I- I guess all I'm trying to say here. Jonathan, is it's nice to know that whatever happens to me, and despite your…thing…you’ll still be around to save the world.”

Jon grimaced again at his father’s attempt to be sincere, while also insulting him. It wasn’t just because of the dig at who he was, but also because of the lie that it was all based on. He wanted to scream, say, ‘Hey, I’m brilliant at math and I can make a decent joke. Powers don’t matter as much!’ but he didn’t. 

“We better come down before Ma flies up to the window again.”

His father nodded and they walked downstairs.

* * *

By the time they got downstairs, Lovett was greeted by his mother who promptly passed him a bagel and the shining face of his best friend since kindergarten, Ronan, walking through the door.

“Good morning, Lovetts. I noticed you had recyclables in the trash. I took the liberty of moving them for you.”

“Thank you, Ronan. You want some food? I made everything for the first day. Eggs, pancakes, bagels, bacon?” His mother gestured towards the kitchen island.

Ronan smiled. “No thanks, Mrs. Lovett. You know how my mom is sensitive to the thoughts of all life?”

Fran nodded.

“Apparently, that includes animals and we aren’t eating meat.”

Fran paled. “Juice and a bagel then?”

“Please.”

Lovett smiled at the exchange. It was the same every year on the first day of the school. His mother would offer Ronan something and Ronan would smile and politely refuse. He honestly didn’t know how he managed to stay friends with Ronan as long as he did, but here they were and he was so glad for it. Ronan was one of the most intelligent, hardworking, and caring person he knew. Despite being 15, he could have easily attended college but for some reason wanted to go to Sky High with Lovett.

He smiled and sat in the chair next to Ronan, rolling his eyes at the cottage cheese filled spoon in front of Ronan’s mouth.

“You know, for someone who believes in not using their powers of nature unless it's an extreme emergency, I would have thought you would be against cottage cheese which is an extreme violation of the laws of nature.”

“Took you a little long to get there, Jonathan.” Ronan said dryly before shoving him playfully.

Jon laughed and reached over to grab some more orange juice. “I can't believe you and Ronan are starting high school. Seems like yesterday you two were swimming naked in the kiddie pool.” Fran said, holding a bagel to her chest.

“Mom!” Jon groaned.

“He didn’t know how to take care of his curls even then.” Ronan smirked and gave a startled laugh when Jon playfully kicked his leg underneath the table.

Jon batted his eyes and sighed dramatically, leaning back in his chair as if he was swooning. “What did I do to deserve this treatment by my family? My own flesh and blood? My best friend as well. I allowed sardines to be served at my bar mitzvah for you.”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “What a great honor.”

Jon smiled and put his elbows on the table, resting his head on his hands “This is so fascinating. I wonder how far I can push you.”

Ronan stuck out his tongue. 

Jon was about to say something more, but was stopped by a red phone ringing and Lovett’s mom quickly picking it up.

“Latusha? Mhm. Mhm. Downtown. Got it. Bye.”

Fran Lovett looked up from the phone and sighed deeply,“ Damn. I really wanted to see you guys to the bus for your first day!”

Jon stood up and turned on the tv. “It’s okay, Mom. They need you two more.”

She kissed him on the head and took his father’s hand, who had been reading the newspaper in the family room, and began running to the poles that lead to their secret sanctum underground and sliding down. “Have a good day, kids.”

Jon turned back to look at the tv and watched as in a span of five minutes, his parents had easily defeated the Giant Robot. He turned the tv off and looked at Ronan who was smiling at him softly. “Ready to go?”

Ronan nodded and they walked out of the house.

* * *

“Are you excited for the first day of school?”

Jon shrugged as they walked towards the bus stop. “I mean, do you think they’ll have some kind of math program?”

Ronan chuckled. “You are going to be fine. We are going to be fine.” He grabbed Jon’s hand quickly as he began to walk backwards. “Now, I know it's just our first day, but I already can't wait to graduate and start saving mankind. And we are going to do it together.I just feel really good about this year.”

Jon laughed as Ronan’s blue eyes sparkled. “I suppose so, Mr. 'My Mom was a Humanitarian and makes me see the good in people.'”

Despite his joking, Jon was in constant awe of Ronan and how good of a person he was, even when that meant Jon had to sneak out of the house when Ronan was stressing over something. He hoped Ronan knew that too.

Ronan glared at him, before breaking into a grin. “Whatever. Anyway, that’s the bus.”

They ran towards it and as if in a movie, the door swung open on cue.

As Jon stepped into the bus, he examined the bus driver.

The bus driver was a thinner man, with thick black hair and a thin mustache and looked at him expectedly, as if -

“Is this the bus to Sky High?” Jon said

“Do you want every supervillain in the neighborhood to know we're here?” He boomed.

Jon jumped back and Ronan cringed. They both quickly shook their head.

“What’s your name, Freshman?”

“Jon Lovett and this is-“

“Wait. Jon Lovett? Son of the Executor and Latusha?”

The bus door closed quickly behind him as Lovett looked away uncomfortably.

“Everyone! It's Jon Lovett! Son of the Executor and Latusha! I'm David Plouffe, Sky High bus driver. If I can make your journey more comfortable, let me know.”

Jon nodded and looked uncomfortably at Ronan as they began to walk towards the back of the bus, before quickly being stopped by David who looked behind him at the two students sitting in the first row.

“You two! Up!”

One of the two quickly stood up. He had light blonde hair and ice blue eyes.

“You can have my seat. I’m Dan.”

“No, it’s really fine.”

“You’re third generation. Look, I know what I’m talking about.” The boy turned to his seat mate who had brown hair and light purple highlights. “Stand up.”

“Why? He only needs one seat.”

The boy motioned towards Ronan. “So he can sit with his boyfriend.”

Jon blushed and turned around to look at Ronan who was blushing as well, but was weirdly smiling. Jon took that as a sign that he needed to interfere. “Ronan? No, he's just my friend.”

“Yeah, totally. He's like my brother,” Ronan uttered with a strange tone in his voice.

They quickly moved to the back as the bus began to move and like clockwork found a seat next to a boy that he and Ronan had grown up with: Favs. His real name was Jon Favreau, but when the two had met, Jon had immediately declared that they would both go by their last names so there wouldn’t be any confusion because they were both important. Favs couldn’t stop laughing to disagree.

“Yo, Lovett. Hey, Ronan. Hey, how you doin’?”

Jon smiled weakly as he gave his friend a hug.

“How was your summer?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

“To be honest, it was tough, man. T- U-P-H. I was seriously sweatin' it. My dad going, 'Jon, I powered up before I started shaving.' And here's me, dude, halfway through August, and zip."

Jon lit up, but then readjusted. “Oh, so you... You don’t have your powers.”

Favs laughed and then tensed, as if someone was eavesdropping. “You think I'd even show up today if that happened? No. No, no. Woke up a few days ago and... bam!”

“That's great.”

Ronan, ever the savior, jumped in. “So, what-what is it?”

Favs shook his head. “You have to wait and see like everybody else. But it's awesome, man. It's awesome.Come on. It's not like Jon ever powered up in front of us.”

Jon nodded and quieted. As much as he was friends with Favs, it was sometimes hard to be vulnerable with him. With Ronan, Jon was able to open up because of Ronan’s demeanor. Favs was just a happy spirit and Jon didn't want to crush that, despite Favs being one of the most understanding people he knew. “This is very true, buddy.”

Ronan was about to chime in again when the bus slammed to a halt to pick up a final passenger. Once the door closed, seatbelts magically appeared from the seats and self fastened. Jon looked at Ronan confusedly. “Are we in Battlestar Galactica now?”

The bus began to go faster, well above the designated speed limit, and soon they were on a bridge surrounded by traffic cones.

“Where are we?” Favs said worriedly.

“Hang on back there! We're goin' off-road!”

Jon and Ronan looked anxiously at each other and suddenly the bus raced off an unfinished bridge.

The bus was full of screams even as Jon could hear David Plouffe remark. “Pfff! Freshmen.”

“Does he not get that driving off a cliff isn’t normal?” He shouted at Ronan. 

Ronan looked too sick to answer. Despite this, Jon was glad that he was with Ronan and Favs if they were going to die. Especially Ronan, he had a special place in his heart. Then suddenly, the ride became smoother and it was like being in an airplane. He looked to the left and he was instantly mesmerized by what he saw in the sky.

“There she is: Sky High. Kept aloft by the latest in anti-gravitational propulsion. She is in constant motion as a precaution against those who otherwise might have nefarious plans,her location supplied only to a few highly qualified individuals such as myself, David Plouffe, bus driver.”

And just as quickly as they were in the air, their bus came to a smooth and easy descent, pulling up next to five other school buses. Until, David Plouffe accidentally braked too hard and caused everyone in the bus to be jolted around. “Sorry!”

One by one they filed out, half-listening to Plouffe's speech.

“Word of advice. Don't miss the bus, 'cause the bus waits for no one. Except for you, Jon Lovett. You ever running late, running early, or you just want to talk, give me a call.”

Jon smiled and watched as David quickly took out a business card and practically shoved it in his hands. “Thanks, David. Seriously.”

* * *

The grounds of the school was amazing, if not a little nauseating if you happened to look off the edge. Super-powered kids were everywhere. From a multiplying cheerleader to people with ice breath. It made Jon feel like he wanted to just head back home.

Then, in a flash, he and the other freshman from his bus were corralled by something that restricted his breathing. He could barely see, but he could feel Ronan getting closer to him and holding his shoulder.

Luckily, within a few moments, it was over, the culprits were standing right in front of hThem. One of them was tall with brown hair and honestly a face that looked like a turtle. The other one was shorter but with lanky limbs and a cruel smile. Jon hated them immediately.

“Hey, freshmen! Your attention, please. I'm Paul,” the one with the face that looked like it had come out of test tube said, looking to his partner in crime. “Uh, and this is Mitch.” Jon couldn’t help but imagine Mitch eating a whole head of lettuce. He knew he was being bad, but he couldn’t help it with how much this teen had the face of a turtle. 

"As representatives of the Sky High welcoming committee, we’d be happy to collect that new student fee.” Paul reached out his hand and although he was standing a few feet away, the arm extended all the way to the group

Dan narrowed his eyes as he adjusted his self,”Um, there was nothing about a new student fee in the handbook.”

But as if heaven was watching down on them, they were rescued by a god. “OK, guys. Very funny. I'll take over from here. Hey everybody, I'm Marco Rubio, your student body president.If you can remember these few simple rules, I promise you will not fall off the edge of the school.”

His spiel went on for a few minutes, but if you were to quiz Jon on what was said, he would fail miserably. He was instantly lost to Marco’s eyes, his tan skin, the way he spoke, everything.

“Follow me for orientation.”

He was instantly snapped out of his reverie, by Ronan squeezing his shoulder. “Jonathan? We have to follow.”

“What were the rules?” He muttered in a daze.

“Weren't you paying attention?” Ronan looked at him strangely. “Come on, let's go. Do you need an orange or something.”

Jon shook his head, but quickly raced to catch up, wanting to be as close to Marco as he possibly could.

They were led to the gym and with a flash, a man appeared behind the podium. He had kind and warm eyes in addition to a soft smile.

“Uh..Hello…Good morning. I am Principal Obama. On behalf of-well all the faculty and staff, welcome to Sky High.”

“Yeah!” Favs was the only one to cheer and while Jon held back his laughter, he did clap him on the back. The first rule of friendship was supporting your friend, even when they didn’t read the room.

“Well-uh, anyway, In a few moments you will go through Power Placement and your own heroic journey will begin.”

Jon heard the words and he went numb once again. ”Power placement?"

As if he could tell that he needed some cheering up, Ronan leaned in and whispered, ”Sounds fascist.”

“You’re the newsie, didn’t the iron wall fall?” Jon muttered back.

Ronan bit his tongue to stop the laughter, but Dan heard and quickly leaned over. “Power Placement: it's how they decide where you go.”

“The hero track or the loser track.” The boy with the purple highlights muttered.

“Th-th-there's a loser track?” Jon trembled.

Dan, taking pity, shook his head. “I believe the preferred term is ‘Hero Support.’"

“For now, good deeds and good luck. Let the adventure begin. Comets away!” Principal Obama finished his speech and, in a burst of light, he and the podium disappeared, and a man with a gym outfit and a clipboard stepped onto the platform. He had graying hair and a thin mustache.

“All right, listen up. My name is Coach Axelrod. You may know me as ‘Sonic Boom’ or you may not. Here's how Power Placement is gonna work. You will step up here and show me your power. And, yes, you will do so in front of the entire class. I will then determine where you will be assigned: Hero or sidekick. Now, every year there are a few students or, as I like to call them,‘whiner babies’ who see fit to question and to complain about their placement. So let's get one thing straight. My word is law. My judgment is final, so there will be no whiner babies. Are we clear?”

They all nodded hesitantly.

Coach Axelrod apparently didn’t find it satisfactory and, releasing a sonic boom from his mouth, repeated. “I said, are we... clear?!”

The first teen went up and within a moment of being up there, Jon could tell Ronan was not going to enjoy this process. “What's humiliating him going to prove? This is so unfair,” Ronan said in disgust at the coach belittling the student currently on the platform.

Yet, in an instant, Axelrod changed his tune as he watched the student turn into a rock creature that could lift a car. “Hero!” He said approvingly.

“So he's good. But I'm better.” Favs whispered next to him and ran to the platform, despite not being called.

“Did I say you were next?”

“Name’s Jon or Favs, Coach Axelrod. Try not to drop your clipboard.” With that, Favs squeezed his eyes shut and squatted, folding his body in. It vaguely looked like he was constipated.

Axelrod was not impressed. “Any day now, superstar.”

Favs opened his eyes and confusedly gazed at Axelrod. "I’m doin' it.”

“Doin' what?”

“I'm glowing.”

“I don't think so.

“Well, it's easier to see in a dark room. Turn off these lights, cup your hands around your eyes and look real close and.”

He was quickly interrupted by a “Sidekick!”

Jon looked at Axelrod in disgust. This was supposed to be a teacher not a bully. He went to the back where Favs was now standing and even though Jon wasn’t a touchy person, gave him a hug. “Thanks Lovett.”

The next one up was Dan.

“You! Front and center!”

“Let me start off by saying, what an honor it is to-“

“Is that your power? Butt-kissery?”

“No, I was just-”

“Shut up and power up.”

“Right away, sir.” Dan said snidely and in a moment, he melted into a puddle and then managed to generate into a basketball.

Axelrod cocked his head in disbelief and knelt to the ground and muttered, “A puddle and a basketball? Sidekick,” before standing back up and shouting: “Purple kid. Let's go. What's your shtick?”

He walked up the stairs, careful to avoid Dan who was still a puddle, and brushed a hand through his hair. “I’m Tommy. I’m a shapeshifter.”

“OK. Shift it.”

And like magic, he turned into a guinea pig.

“A guinea pig?”

“Yep. I can also turn into a whale or an otter, and I have tried to turn into a boat, but that looks freaky if I am not in water. ”

“Not even a swarm of guinea pigs, otters, or whales?”

“Uh, no. But whales are cool and so are guinea pigs and otters. Have you never been to the aquarium bro?”

“Sidekick, Bro”

One by one each student went up, getting an excited “Hero” or a derogatory “Sidekick” until it was just Ronan and Jon.

“You. Flower child. Let's go.” Axelrod pointed at Ronan and while Jon was relieved that it wasn’t him, he knew that this wasn’t going to be good.

“Uh, I believe in only using my powers when the situation demands it.” Ronan explained matter-of-factly.

“Well, you're in luck. This is the situation and I'm demanding it.” Coach Axelrod seemed to have little patience in his voice and Jon for once wanted to shake Ronan for being so principled with a man who literally screamed all day.

“But to participate in this test would be to support a flawed system. The whole hero-sidekick dichotomy only serves to-“

“Let me get this straight.” Axelrod’s voice got scarily quiet and everyone’s eyes widened. “Are you refusing to show your powers?”

Ronan gulped and nodded, preparing something else to say, but was stopped by a deafening, “Sidekick!”

That seemed to take a lot out of the coach and he nodded. “We'll pick it up right after lunch,starting with you.”

And this time, Jon knew that he was on the chopping block. If only Ronan’s speech had actually worked.

* * *

The friends they had met at Power Placement had saved them a table and Jon relaxed. Even if he would be a major disappointment, at least he would get some good friends out of it.

That good feeling was not to last when he felt someone’s eyes glaring into the back of his neck.

“Am I crazy, or is that guy really looking at me?” Jon asked the table.

“Dude.” Dan intoned.

“What?”

“That's Spencer Wong.”

“That's Spencer Wong?” Ronan asked.

“Yeah.”

Ronan nodded, as if his system was coming online. “I've heard about him. His mom's a hero and his dad’s a supervillain. Baron Battle.”

“Where do I come in?” Jon said bewildered.

“Your dad busted his dad. Quadruple life sentence.”

“No parole until after his third life,” Tommy said.

Despite the situation, Jon smiled at Tommy’s quip, but then slumped. “That's great.My first day of Sky High, and I already have an archenemy.”

He took a breath and then mumbled. “Is he still lookin’?”

Ronan quickly looked behind him and shook his head. ”No.”

“No?” Jon looked behind him and saw that Spencer was still glaring. ”No?! I thought you said he wasn't looking.”

Ronan squeezed his shoulder and as the bell rang for them to return to class, Jon could feel the nausea set in. There was no hiding now.

As they walked back to class, he ran into the beautiful boy from earlier and his nausea was briefly alleviated as he began to sputter. “I’m…I'm ..."

“Jon Lovett.”

“Aha! Mind reader!” He quipped nervously.

“No. Name tag.” The boy smiled.

“Right. Uh...Uh, these are my friends. That's Favs."

“What's up?”

“And…

“Ronan. Got it. I'm Marco. How's Power Placement going?”

He was entranced by Marco’s eyes but managed to get out an, “Um… great.”

Marco smiled widely. “I’m not surprised. I need a freshman rep for the homecoming committee, we could talk about it over lunch.”

Jon smiled dumbly.

“How cute is he?” Marco said, focusing his gaze on Ronan. “I guess I'll see you guys around.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

Marco waved and Jon waved back.

The daydream was cut short when Dan stumbled in front of them dazed, hair and shirt wet.

“What's up, guys?” Paul said slyly.

“The kid, uh, looked a little dehydrated. How about it, Lovett? You gonna hang with us this year? Help us bring some pain to the sidekicks?”

Jon’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, watching as they walked away.

“You okay, Dan?” Favs asked.

“No, but whatever.” Dan quickly walked into the gym and they followed him.

Soon after, Lovett was called up to the platform and his stomach dropped once again. He wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. ‘Hopefully,’ Jon thought, ‘My name will actually give me a break.’

That was not to be the case.

“What do you mean, you don’t know what your power is?” Axelrod interrogated.

“Well, uh…the funny thing is..”

“I got it. You're messin’ with the coach. Just like your old man! Car!”

“No, this is the one time I am not-HOLY FUCK!” A car fell from the sky and Jon was nearly crushed. The second time in a day that he was almost called and it was again by a motor vehicle. He made a mental note to ask for an electric bike or scooter because based on his knowledge of statistics, his luck with vehicles was going to be slim.

He could see out into the crowd and could tell that it was not going well. His friends, old and new, were looking very concerned, especially Ronan.

“Are you insane?!I don't have super-strength!” He panicked.

“Oh, I get it. You're a flier, just like your ma. Why didn't you say so?”

Instantaneously, the car disappeared and he was tossed across the room, hitting the wall painfully.

“Stop messing around. What’s your power?”

“I don't have one.” Lovett whimpered, nearly in tears.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, the freshman beginning to scream, as Jon watched in horror at Coach Axelrod’s face getting redder and redder and finally releasing the scream of:

“Lovett?! SIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEE-KIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCKKKKKK”

At the buses, David Plouffe, bus driver, watched as his windows cracked.


	2. Trapped in the state of imaginary grace

“You, uh, haven't called him yet, have you?”

Jon sat on the medical bed, holding an ice pack to his lower back and his head. These weren’t the only places that hurt, but unfortunately one of the powers he lacked was the ability to multiple his limbs.

“Like I want to be the one to tell the Executor his son has no powers?” The nurse tutted before removing her stethoscope. “Ooh! Let's... Let's take a look at that chest.”

Within seconds her eyes glowed and suddenly he could see into his chest. It made him wonder why in the heck she had a stethoscope to begin with.

She smiled softly as her eyes returned to normal. “Well, nothing seems to be broken. Maybe you’re just a late bloomer. You could get one of them or both, those powers of yours. Your mother's flying or your father's super-strength.”

Jon groaned. This all felt too much like middle school when the teachers passed him through Spanish. ”But when?”

The nurse wasn’t phased, but rather sat down next to him. “The kids who get bit by, uh, radioactive insects or fall into a vat of toxic waste, their powers usually show up the next day. Or, they die.”

Jon’s eyebrows shot up.

“But kids who inherit their powers, well, impossible to say.”

“But I _will_ get them, right?” He whispered.

“Many sidekicks are the offspring of one super-parent and one ordinary parent. But there are cases, rare, yet not unheard of, where the child of two super-powered parents, never acquires any... powers.” She looked at him pityingly.

“There are?”

“Well, I know of only one. David Plouffe, bus driver.”

The nurse’s office had a window that looked out onto the front grounds on the campus. It was mostly empty as most people had left for the day, but one bus remained: David Plouffe’s bus. When the nurse had called on his behalf earlier, David Plouffe immediately agreed to come back for Jon as promised. But he wasn’t just sitting there, he was swinging a broom like it was some sort of sword. Was that the fate he was destined to?

* * *

An hour passed and he finally made it home. He was hesitant to go inside, knowing that there would have to be an uncomfortable conversation, and he just wanted there to be peace for a few more moments. Bracing himself, he finally opened the door and walked into seeing his mom and dad begin to set up the fancy dining room table and talk on the phone at the same time.

“When do we brief the president on supervillain infiltration of the IRS?”

“President would be Monday.”

“Barb, could we go over that shipment order on Tuesday? Great.”

“Hon, dinner's almost ready. Could you stop playing with your robot eye and help set the table?”

Sure enough, the eye from the robot his parents had defeated was placed dead center on the table and his dad kept adjusting it.

It was then that his dad realized Jon was standing in the doorway.

“Oh, there he is! Man of the hour!”

Jon’s eyes watered and he bit his lip. He had a great relationship with his mother and an okay one with his father, but to hear the adoration coming out of his father’s voice wasn’t something he got everyday. He wanted to keep that.

“Well, how'd it go? Did you blow them away.”

Jon struggled not to let out a bitter laugh. Someone was blown away.

“Um, Dad, we need to talk.” He knew that if he told his mom and dad together, he’d never get the true emotions from his father and honestly, he needed to know.

“You mean a little hero-to-hero talk? I think I know just the place.” His dad extended his arm and led him to the study. When the door closed, he closed his eyes and started.

“OK, so, Dad.”

He was quickly interrupted by a knowing chuckle.

“Oh, this isn't the place, Jon. This...is the place,” and with the press of a button and a biometric scan the poles that led to the secret sanctum were revealed.

“No way! The secret sanctum? Go ahead, son. I already added your biometrics this morning. You can slide down.”

They slid down and Jon was in awe. He watched as his dad pointed out every section and the importance of each. Even if his dad would never look at him again after this, he would cherish this memory forever. All of a sudden one section stuck out and he ran toward it, “No way.”

Robert Lovett smiled. “These are our trophies from all our greatest battles. Our finest moments.”

Jon walked over to a clear handheld device that had the vague shape of a bottle and was resting on a pedestal. “And is this?”

“Royal Pain's Pacifier. Now that was a great day, Jon. The first time your mom and I ever teamed up to fight evildoers. Soon as she came smashing through the window, I knew she was the one for me. I wish you could have seen us. We were fantastic! Royal Pain got his, and I got the Pacifier. This is my proudest possession. No idea what it does but, this is it. It's all down here. Our story, your mom and me, of, well, kicking butt and taking names. But now it's time for a new chapter in the story: The three of us, fighting crime together side by side... by side.”

Jon’s father looked at him with pride and joy clear in his expression and it was then Jon knew that he should have lashed himself to the mast like he had with another hard conversation.

“Now, what was it you wanted to tell me about?”

Jon gulped and choked out a weak laugh. “Never mind. Only that, if we had real video games down here, I’d beat you any day.”

* * *

_ Somewhere Nearby _

_ “You were right. He took it home.” _

_ “He's got the ego the size of a giant robot. His son is the same, we could use this to our advantage,” _

_ “We’ll keep an EYE on him” _

_ “SHUT. UP.” _

* * *

After dinner Jon found himself on the roof, looking at the moon. He was out there for ten minutes, when he began to hear a rustle of leaves. Without turning around, he smiled. “Hey Ronan.”

Ronan climbed off the tree that he grew and sat next to him.

“Jonathan, where were you after school? I was worried. I wanted to wait, but that fascist Axelrod said I had to get on the bus and-“

Jon turned to look at him and smiled. “It’s okay Ronan, I got stuck in the nurse's office. And the news just keeps getting better and better. Turns out I may never get my powers.” He sniffed and then gulped, trying not to let the tears fall.

He knew going into this day that it was going to be tough without his powers, but to hear a nurse confirm one of his hidden fears was hard. 

Ronan looked at him, worriedly. “How’d your dad take it?”

Jon laughed bitterly. “What was I supposed to do? He showed me the secret sanctum. My parents are the greatest superheroes on the planet. Everybody expects greatness from me. He looked at me in a way he hadn’t since I told him I was gay. How could I disappoint him again?”

Ronan shook his head. “Well, you are great. So you're a sidekick. It's not the end of the world. You are so funny and smart and compassionate. To hell with powers.” Ronan turned and reached out to touch the tree he grew and closed his eyes.“When life gives you lemons,” he paused reaching out to grab the fruit he had just grown from the tree and handed it to Jon.

Jon laughed as he looked at the fruit that was definitely not a lemon. “Make apple juice?”

Ronan let out a frustrated groan. “I can't make lemons. I don't know what it is.”

“Yeah, but see, no. You have an awesome power. You could have made hero easy. You are Ronan Farrow, literal angel who can harness anything you put your hands on.” Jon stood up frustratedly. Unfortunately, because of his height, Ronan was able to grab his arm and pull him back into a sitting position.

“I'm not into labels and again, this doesn’t make any difference on how I see you. I think the whole thing is stupid. Dividing people into groups like that. I mean what is this?” Ronan peered out from the corner of his eye, knowing he just laid out a softball

“High school?”

Ronan smiled and nodded towards the apple. “Want to split it?”

Jon nodded and playfully snatched the apple from Ronan’s hands. “I’ll get the peanut butter.”

* * *

The next day started a lot easier, especially since there were no more tests to go through or people to disappoint. Additionally, he had friends with him who didn’t care about his lack of powers.

“Morning, class. Welcome to Hero Support.” The teacher walked in with a weight on his shoulders, but it quickly evaporated as he got in front of his desk.

“My name is All American Boy!” He ran behind a dressing panel and was soon dressed in a red, white, and blue costume. “'Course, nowadays...I just go by Mr. Boy or Mr. Gibbs. This year, though, it will be my privilege to be your teacher to help each of you become the very best hero support that you can be. Without hero support, why, there wouldn't be any heroes.All right, there probably would be heroes, but they would be very lonely. Lonely heroes indeed.”

Jon, Ronan, and Tommy looked at each other, holding back a laugh. Meanwhile, Favs raised his hand.

“Hi, yeah. When do we pick out our costume and our name? Because I want to be known as The Crashlight. Because I like, crash into where the evil is happening and like, I light up.”

There was a smattering of giggles across the classroom and Jon reached behind to pat Favs on the hand.

Mr. Gibbs just smiled. "On graduation day, you'll be assigned to your hero, I think this is mostly done in an attempt to avoid clashing colors. I was red, white, and blue because I used to be with The Executor.”

Jon tilted his head. “You worked with my dad?”

“Your dad? Wait. Mr... Mr... Lovett. You Robert's son?”

“Yeah.” Jon reddened. “And he never mentioned me to you.”

Mr. Gibbs reddened and began to stammer. “Makes sense. That makes perfect sense, because the Executor does not have time to sit around flipping through scrapbooks that I took the time to make for him. No, the Executor's got to be out there saving the world! With your mom. Your mom. She ever mention me?”

Ronan looked at him imploringly, as if to say that he either needed to lie or to evade the question. Jon was leaning towards the latter, he wasn’t always the best with situations that required a lot of tact, but he smiled and began to nod.

Luckily, there was immediately the sound of an explosion and the lights turning off. At first, it was pitch black, but slowly a glowing light filled the room. Favs had been telling the truth. He could glow.

“Oh, look. He does glow.” Tommy said in disbelief.

Favs beamed, almost like a compliment from Tommy was all that he was looking for “I told you.”

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the doorway. “Greetings. Little misfire in the Mad Science Lab. No need to panic.” He was shrouded in shadow, but even then you could tell that whoever it was had an abnormally sized head.

“Mr. Emmanuel, we in Hero Support are trained never to panic.” And with that, Mr. Gibbs let go of the vent that he had been holding on to and dropped back to the floor.

“Now class, let's get started.”

* * *

Two months passed and while it was still hard to adjust to everybody at school knowing he was a sidekick, Jon was genuinely having a good time. The bus ride to school was more like a rollercoaster at an amusement park than a horror movie. And he had a good friend base of Ronan, Dan, Tommy, and Favs. They even had come over to his house a couple of times. Granted, his parents had never met them but that was only due to luck and the fact that he planned study sessions based on whenever the two of them were on the other side of the continent.

Apparently that luck ran out on a November night.

“If you kids are all in here, who's out there saving the world?” Jon was snapped out of the Intermediate Math for Sidekicks homework by his dad’s voice in the hallway. Jon had actually tested into a higher class for math, but because of his sidekick status was relegated to doing this instead. Luckily, he had found an in with the sympathetic Pre-Calculus for Pre-Meditating Masterminds (quite a scary name) and was able to have something to challenge him, but also help his friends.

He began to panic. “Dad. Why are you home so early?”

“After I stopped the Superdome from collapsing, I was watching the game and got to thinking,'It's been a while since Jon and I tossed the old basketball around.'

“Yeah, because I have no upper body strength and we both agreed to stop kidding ourselves when it comes to sports.”

It had been a common occurrence for the young Jon to be sitting on the bench during the SuperTykes Basketball League season.

Annoyance passed through his father’s face, but it quickly passed. “I thought I'd hustle back home, but I see you and Ronan have already made new friends.”

His friends quickly stood up and introduced themselves, but by the time his dad got to Tommy and Dan, Jon could see that his dad was becoming suspicious. “Well, I guess I’ll just leave you to work. I’m going to the kitchen.”

Jon excused himself and quickly raced after him. “Dad-“

“That guinea pig and whale boy.”

“Tommy.”

“They let him in the hero track?” His dad looked at him in disbelief as he gathered the ingredients he needed for his sandwich. Jon tensed as he could sense where this conversation was heading.

“Well, actually, he's a sidekick.”

His dad looked up from the cutting board where he was making an egg salad sandwich and his grip on the spoon lessened.

“Oh. Well, that makes sense.”

Jon saw his chance and went for it. “Actually, they're all sidekicks.”

His dad smiled. “Good for you, son. Kid of your stature hanging out with a bunch of sidekicks. As a freshman? I didn't have the guts.”

Jon gulped and despite his confidence faltering, plowed on. “You know, there's nothing wrong with being a sidekick, Dad.”

His dad stopped what he was doing with a look of confusion on his face. “Oh, no. Of course not. I used to have one. Saved my life once too.” He said slowly.

“So then you would be fine if I was a sidekick?” asked Jon.

His father nodded.

Jon took a deep breath. “Well, that's good then, because... because I am.”

An odd look passed over his face. “Am what?”

“A sidekick.” Jon said firmly.

“Who is?”

Jon quickly became frustrated. “Me, Dad. Dad, I'm a sidekick, OK? I washed out of Power Placement.”

And with that, his father’s face turned red. “Washed out! _Axelrod!_ Couldn't make the big time, so now he thinks he can pass judgment on some real heroes' kids, huh?”

His dad stomped over to the landline, leaving imprints in the floor. “I’m calling the school. The tuition we pay them!”

“It's not Coach Axe! It's me, OK?” Jon shouted back. “I don't have any powers. But I don’t care. Because, really, the fact of the matter is I'm proud to be a sidekick. Actually, I'm proud to be hero support.”

“But you never said anything.” His dad said confused

“How could I dad. We don’t have a real good track record.”

He walked away and rejoined his friends. They said nothing the rest of the night. Only giving him hugs as they left for the night and Jon knew that Tommy didn’t do hugs.

The next morning was awkward, with his mom hugging him and telling him that she didn’t care one iota about powers or no powers. His dad gave a non-committal grunt. When he got to the school, he had had to defend David Plouffe, bus driver, against Paul and Mitch who had deemed David a victim. Suffice to say, now Jon was really on their bad sides.The rest of the day until lunch passed by in a blur and honestly, Jon was ready to get out of there.

He walked into the cafeteria and looked for his friends. Tommy instantly spotted him. “Lovett! Over here!"

Dan looked up and smiled. “I saved you a seat.” 

Favs looked up as well. “Hey, and I saved you a pudding!”

Jon smiled as he carried his tray and walked towards them. “Hey, what's up?”

What he didn’t see, had he been paying attention to the ground, was Paul Ryan’s arm extending all the way from other side of the room and in the perfect position to trip him, causing him to spill his tray all over one Spencer Wong.

The cafeteria went silent and Jon quickly got up. “I am so sorry.”

Spencer seethed. “You will be.You think you can do whatever you want 'cause your name's Lovett?”

Jon shook his head and began to plead. “Let’s not do this. I'm sorry my dad, put your dad in jail, but-“

This seemed to make Spencer even more angry. “Nobody talks about my father.” He picked Lovett up by the shirt and immediately lit his hands on fire, singeing Lovett’s shirt and causing Lovett to flail.

The crowd quickly surrounded them. “Fight, fight, fight!” And Jon could only give a panicked look at Ronan and Favs before getting out of Spencer’s hands.

“Mr. Gibbs, do something!” He could hear Ronan cry. That tone of voice made Lovett jump,. Ronan only used that voice when he was getting overwhelmed. He needed to get him out of here.

Spencer quickly began throwing fireballs his way and Jon did nothing but run and dodge, something he was used to back in middle school. Using a tray, he managed to deflect one and using the time saved, looked around the room, spotting the fire alarm.

He ran, but the crowd was so thick and as he almost reached the fire alarm, he was tripped once again by Paul Ryan. Seeing no other option, he began to climb under the tables, the smell of smoke filling the room due to Spencer’s fireballs hitting the kitchen and various appliances.

He heard Spencer jump on the tables and began to crawl faster, trying to dodge the blasts of fire.

“Where are your sidekicks, sidekick?”

“Right here!”

Jon looked to his left and saw Favs, Tommy, Dan, and Ronan step up. He smiled, but it quickly went away when he heard Spencer ignite both of his arms. He saw the panic in Ronan’s eyes and the false bravado that Tommy and Favs were giving off. He saw Dan melt into a puddle.

If you asked him what happened later, Jon Lovett wouldn’t be able to tell you. All he knew is that once he looked into his friends’ eyes, especially Ronan’s, he felt this sudden surge of adrenaline and anger. No one hurt his friends. No one. He felt his heart beat faster and his head begin to pound and suddenly with a burst of energy, placed his two hands on the bottom of the table and began to lift. “Leave them alone!” Jon gritted out.

The room went silent, his heart rate began to go back to normal, but the strength didn’t recede. It was at that moment he knew. He looked at Ronan and grinned.

“You’re strong!” Ronan mouthed

“I'm strong?” He said in disbelief and almost to prove it, he threw the table to the other side of the room, throwing Spencer off guard and disorienting him.

When he lit up once more, Jon ran away and this time Ronan stepped in. “Jonathan!”

Jon looked up and Ronan tossed him the fire extinguisher. Not knowing how to use it and not able to hear Ronan’s detailed instructions, he used the newfound strength he had to pop up the top off, extinguishing Spencer.

He looked up in relief and as the detergent cleared, he turned around to look at his friends. That relief was short lived when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Principal Obama and he did not look happy.

Ten minutes later found him in detention along with a very angry Spencer. They had been left to work it out, but his attempts at reconciliation had gone nowhere. In fact Spencer had given a very clear warning. ”I say if you ever cross me again, I'll roast you alive.”

Usually Jon would be disappointed, but he had his powers and he couldn’t help the joy he felt inside.

* * *

When he got home, it was almost like his powers were on overdrive. When he opened the door, it came off the hinges and when he went to give his mother a hug he was able to pick her up.

His parents on the other hand weren’t so enthusiastic.

“So, Jonathan, anything interesting happen at school today?” His mother asked snidely.

“Uh...Well, as you may have noticed, I got my powers today! It's not as bad as it sounds. It’s a really funny, great story.” Jon couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes, we know. The principal called and he said that you nearly destroyed the cafeteria.”

“Yeah, but, Mom...I got my powers!”

“And do you know how to use them wisely?” Jon began to wonder whether all adults went to the same place to learn how to talk to a kid who they wanted to punish.

He looked at his father, for once someone who he thought would be a saving grace.

“Sanctum. Now.”

When they got to the sanctum, Jon was confused and couldn’t look at his father.

“Jonathan Ira Lovett......come here!” His dad shouted excitedly.

Jon looked up, nearly giving himself whiplash. “You're not mad?”

“My boy has super-strength! How can I be mad?” His father gave him a hug and squeezed as tightly as he could. Despite his super strength, it still hurt. Then a thought came to him.

“Ow!” He exclaimed and then hugged his father back.

At first his father was caught off guard. “I’m sorry.” But then Jon decided to squeeze back. “Ow! You are strong!”

Jon pulled out of the hug and nodded.

“If your mom asks, you tell her I read you the riot act, and I took away your Xbox.”

Jon looked at him confused. “But I don't have an Xbox.” His father hadn’t been the most supportive of his love of video games, so it had always been a no when he asked for it.

“Are you sure?” His father said slyly, before pulling out a box with a bow.

“Oh my god!” Jon looked up and saw his dad smiling at him. “Do you-Do you want to play?”

Robert Lovett nodded. “Open it up! All right. Let's see.”

* * *

_ Unbeknownst to them, the robot eye began to come back to life in the background _

_ “We should crush them now!” An impatient voice shouted in the control room that allowed them to see the two Lovett men set up the X-Box. _

_ “Patience. We have waited this long, we just need to wait until the moment is right.” _

_ “Well if we had an X-Box, time would go a lot fast-OW!” _


	3. I made a pilgrimage to save this humans race

When Lovett walked into Hero Support class the next day, he was greeted by his friends like a hero.

“Dude, you made sidekick history!” Favs was clearly the most excited. If it was dark, Jon was sure that Favs would be glowing. 

Jon blushed as he took his seat. “Aw, I don't know about that.”

Dan shook his head. “No, seriously. From now on, people mess with us at their own peril.”

Ronan smiled softly. “You're breaking down barriers, proving we're not heroes and sidekicks.We're just people.”

Tommy nodded along.

“Super people.” Dan interjected.

The bell rang and Mr. Gibbs hurried in. “Seats, please. We have a lot to cover this morning, starting with motorcycle sidecar basics. Uh, except for you, Mr. Lovett.”

Jon startled and looked between his friends and Mr. Gibbs. “Would you gather your gear and come up here, please? I've got your new class schedule. Congratulations. You've been transferred to the Hero class. Oh, and by the way, if you should find yourself needing any hero support, I still do a little freelance.”

Jon hesitantly walked up to get his schedule, but quickly turned back.

“But what about them?” He whispered.

Dan smiled sadly. “We’ll see you on the bus.”

We'll hang at lunch!” Ronan, ever the cheerleader, tried to put on a brave and excited face. It wasn’t working and Lovett felt his heart beat out of his chest as he walked towards his new class.

* * *

The only problem with transferring into a class in the middle of the semester was that he was transplanted into a unit that he had no knowledge about. The only bright side was that the class he was transferred in had the handsome Marco Rubio in it. The downside was that Jon would instantly be humiliated in front of him because of his failure to know how to put a freeze-ray gun together.

Instantaneously, right before science teacher Mr. Emmanuel came over to likely fail him, the freeze ray was assembled right before his very eyes.

“And what have we here?” Mr. Emmanuel said.

Jon panicked. “Uh…Well, I don't know. I didn't do it.” He could feel Marco smiling at him though, so he began to calm down.

Mr. Emmanuel tilted his head. “You’re far too modest, Mr. Lovett.Or perhaps not modest enough. Mr. Rubio, in the future, please allow the students to succeed, or fail, on their own.”

The science teacher walked away and Jon looked at Marco in amazement. “How did you do that?”

“I'm a Technopath. I can control technology with my mind.”

Jon wanted to joke and ask what degree of separation there was between technopaths and sociopaths, but he thought better of it and just said, “Wow.”

Marco smiled softly at him. “You know, I can totally help you out with all this science stuff. I am Emmanuel’s teacher assistant for a reason. I could be, like, your...private tutor. We can discuss it over lunch.”

Jon was starstruck as they walked to lunch together and sat down at Marco’s usual table. Susan Collins, head and sole cheerleader due to her ability to multiply herself into clones, was also there. It was a pretty empty table and based on how friendly Marco was, he knew what to do when he saw his friends look for a table.

“Guys! Guys! Over here.” He shouted excitedly.

His friends wandered over.

“Jon? Sitting with Marco Rubio?” Tommy said in snide disbelief.

“Man aims high. Gotta give him that.” Favs said, shrugging.

Dan and Ronan were about to sit down when all of a sudden, there were five clones of Susan sitting in each available seat.

“Sorry. All full.” She said with mock sympathy.

His friends looked at him and he just looked at Marco who shrugged.

Ronan quickly put a smile on his face. “That's OK. Uh, I think I see an empty table over there.”

Jon watched his friends walk away and looked at Marco. “Sorry, Susan can be a little much, but it's all cool."

Jon wasn't so sure about that, but he stayed quiet

* * *

As soon as he finished eating, he ran to where Ronan’s locker was and luckily found him there. “Hey, you smell nice.”

“Tecomaria capensis?” Ronan said as if it was obvious

“In English?” Usually that would make Ronan laugh, but this time Jon just received a tight smile.

“Honeysuckle? It’s Honeysuckle.”

Jon ran his hand through his curls, “Listen. About lunch.”

“What about it?” Ronan said matter-of-factly. Jon knew this voice well. It was the voice Ronan mastered when he was being chased by paparazzi because of his delinquent dad. He knew he had messed up. Ronan hardly ever used this tone with him and he knew he needed to fix it. Ronan was a constant that he couldn’t lose. He didn’t fully understand it sometimes but, he didn’t understand most of his feelings. What he did know was the difference between right and wrong.

“At the table, Susan Collins was being-.“

“Please. Not a big deal.”

“No, it is, and I feel bad, so let me make it up to you. Maybe tonight we can go to the Paper Lantern?”

Ronan’s eyes widened. “But you hate Chinese food. Ever since you realized that’s basically all you could eat on Christmas, because it’s not your holiday.”

“But you don’t.” Jon said. “Paper Lantern at 8?”

Ronan smiled and nodded. He closed his locker and they were about to walk off when all of a sudden there was a shout.

“Jon!”

Jon turned around as he watched Dan be dragged down the hallway by means of Paul’s extended arm. He and Ronan took off and witnessed Paul and Mitch attempt to shove Dan into a locker.

“No, guys!” Dan cried out in pain.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!” Jon shouted and pushed Mitch and Paul away. He reached for Dan gently and pulled him away from the two teens.” Come on, buddy. Easy, guys.”

“Thanks, Jon.” Dan hiccuped.

“It’s all right. Are you okay?” Ronan asked.

Jon looked at Dan intensely as well. With Dan’s demeanor usually being unruffled and matter of fact, the boy was quite good at hiding his true feelings. Jon didn’t want that to happen here.

“Yeah, thanks.” Dan nodded and Ronan patted him on the shoulder

Jon looked back at Paul and Mitch who slowly tried to move to another locker, a locker that was mysteriously glowing.

Jon growled in frustration. “Favs too. Come on.”

Mitch opened up the locker and Favs stumbled out. “Not so tough when my friend’s around, are you?”

Paul and Mitchl’s eyes narrowed and Paul took a step forward. “You just think you're so big and bad with your new powers, Lovett.”

Jon backed up. “No, I-I don’t.”

Dan piped up, his strength back. “Please! Jon can totally take you.”

“You saw what happened to Spencer?” Favs added in.

“Watch it, Lovett. That big mouth is gonna get you in trouble.” Mitch growled.

Jon dropped his jaw. “I didn’t say-“

“Why not settle this in P.E.?” Mitch proposed.

Jon shook his head. “What?”

“You're on. If Lovett beats you in Save the Citizen, lay off sidekicks for the year. And if he loses, you can dunk Dan in the toilet every day till graduation.” Favs said, throwing his hands down in a ‘Come at me’ gesture.

“Wait, guys, guys.” Jon tried to interfere. If he had known any better, he would have sworn that he was in a movie with how this scene was playing out.

“Bring it.” Paul said, giving Jon a glance-over and smirking.

“Thanks for including me in the conversation.” Jon snarked. Then he took a breath.

“Guys, are you crazy?! No freshman ever won Save the Citizen,and those guys are undefeated!” Jon whined, leaning against the lockers.

“And you barely know how to use your powers!” Ronan chimed in. Jon glared at him.

“Lovett, you have no choice. You can't let them dunk Dan's head in the toilet. Not again. And Tommy, he’s not here, but not one precious purple hair should be touched by those monsters. I mean, just because he is a friend and all.” Favs said, looking at him intently, but becoming mesmerized as he got to the part about Tommy.

“The dunking must end.” Dan begged. “I know they don’t do basketball here, but I don’t want Paul Ryan, murderer of any common sense, to be given that kind of power.”

Jon nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

* * *

Save the Citizen was not your average P.E. game, just like Sky High was not your average school. So when Jon and his friends walked into the gym with the rest of the student population, he immediately saw why it was near impossible for a freshman to win

In the center of the gym stood an enclosed ring with flexi-glass walls. Inside the ring was what could only be described as a high-end shredder that could certainly slice through flesh like butter if given the opportunity. Above it, hung a plastic doll or in this case ‘the citizen.' The object of the game was for the dual hero pair to defeat the dual villains pair and save the citizen from the shredder.

One by one, Jon watched as team after team went up against Paul and Mitch and lost. He was hoping that that would mean Coach Axelrod would stop the game, but it was no use.

“Next round. Speed, Lash, you want to be heroes or villains?” Axelrod boomed. Axelrod already knew the answer to the question, but he asked anyway.

“Villains.”

“Ooh, there's a surprise. Who do you want to beat next?”

Paul and Mitch looked at each other and looked up at the stand with an evil grin. “We’ll take little Lovett. And we pick Wong!”

Axelrod nodded. “Hothead, Lovett, you're the heroes. Get your head in the game! You have three minutes to immobilize your opponents- and save the citizen.Ready! Set! Battle!”

Jon took a deep breath, the same he did when he was trying to solve a complex geometric proof and began to run towards Paul and Mitch.

Three minutes isn’t a whole lot of time, but it was enough to show how well Jon and Spencer actually worked together.

The citizen in question was a small sized female doll, with an annoying robotic voice repeatedly saying “Save Me” and from the moment they started the round, Mitch and Paul immediately started to play dirty.

Paul made himself into a slingshot and catapulted Mitch to the opposite side of ring, while Mitch used his super speed to basically knock into the “heroes” like a pinball.

Jon and Spencer were knocked to the ground, disoriented, but there was one advantage to having Spencer on his team. When Paul tried to wrap his arms around Spencer as some sort of trap, his arms were immediately burned.

Jon did his best to get up, but Mitch was constantly running at him at the speed of light, making it impossible. Finally, he looked at the crowd.

With a breath, he jumped as high as he could and pounded the ground with his fist. It caused a ripple through the ring, causing Mitch to be thrown into a bench and Paul into a light pole.

Jon ran over and picked Paul up with ease, beginning to tie his extendable limbs to the light pole and making him look like a pretzel. He chuckled but then heard the scream of Spencer “Save the Citizen!”

Jon looked at the clock, thirty seconds left. He ran over to get the citizen, but couldn’t figure out how to get to the doll. He turned to ask for help when he saw Mitch running around Spencer at top speed.

Twenty Seconds left and he ran to Mitch and Spencer, and timing it just right, grabbed Mitch who was still in Super Speed Mode and set him on a collision course towards Paul. The Light post that Paul was attached to immediately collapsed with the force.

Ten Seconds Left and it looked like hope was lost, but then Jon picked up Spencer and with three seconds left on the clock and all the strength he had, threw him towards the shredder.

Spencer snatched the doll and landed hard on the ground, but it didn’t matter. They had saved the citizen.

The gym crowd filled the ring and while Spencer walked off without allowing Jon to give him a handshake, Will was greeted like a champion. In that moment, he understood the allure of being a hero.

And then it happened, Marco Rubio grabbed his hand gently, and brought it up in the air. Jon was on cloud nine. He didn’t see or hear his friends calling for him to come back into the bleachers and celebrate. And in that moment, he didn’t care.

* * *

“I totally beat you.”

Jon and his father walked in from outside where they had been playing basketball until it had gotten dark. While Jon had been previously horrible at basketball because of his height and his lack of strength, with his powers he could actually get the ball into the basket.

When he came in for dinner, he was not expecting who he saw.

“Marco?”

Marco smiled and waved.

“Oh, uh, Dad, this is Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio, this is Dad.”

“Mr. Lovett, it's such an honor. I’m sorry to barge in like this.”

His father was immediately charmed and while he had once been uncomfortable with Jon’s sexuality, Jon witnessed in surprise as his dad suddenly became a pseudo-wingman right in front of him.

“Oh, not at all. Jon and I were just hangin'. Chillin’.”

“Honey, Marco is a Technopath, and he's offered to help Jon with his science homework. And he's a senior.”

Marco nodded. “We said we'd work on that antigravity stuff tomorrow, but something came up. Any chance we can do it tonight?”

Jon smiled stupidly.

His dad stepped towards Marco. “On one condition, Marco: You join us for dinner.”

“Oh, no, I couldn't intrude.”

Robert Lovett looked at his son and smiled. “Oh, yes, you can. You must.”

* * *

When they were seated for dinner, Marco cleared his throat. “So I did have an ulterior motive in coming here tonight. Jon told you I'm the head of the homecoming committee?”

Fran Lovett tutted. “Uh, he most certainly did not.”

“Well, I was wondering if you'd consider attending the homecoming dance.”

“We would love to chaperone, wouldn’t we Robert.”

“That's very nice, Mrs. Lovett, but no. We were hoping that you'd be the guests of honor and receive the award for Heroes of the Year.”

His parents' eyes sparkled and they nodded eagerly, “Of course.”

Robert Lovett lit up. “I have my old yearbook, would you like to see it after dinner?”

Marco smiled. “Of course, Mr. Lovett.”

* * *

As promised after dinner, they went into the family room to look at the yearbook. One picture, however, sparked real interest in Mr. Lovett.

“Oh, whoa-whoa-whoa. Remember him? He was a weird one.” He pointed to a picture of a teenager with an bowl cut and a glare on his face.

“Oh, yeah. Sam Trent. Disappeared right before graduation.” His mother hummed with recognition.

Jon looked at her. “Why is that?”

“No one ever really knew. Some say he was, uh, recruiting villains at the school. Others say he was smoking in the girls' room.”

Jon shrugged and within a few minutes, began to walk Marco home.

“You didn't have to walk me home.” Marco said.

“I did if I wanted to spend any time alone with you. And, just so you know,I don't usually hang out all night with my mom and dad.” Jon muttered nervously.

Marco stopped in front of his house and turned to face him. “Your parents are great, Jon. I'm so glad they’re coming to homecoming. Now, if I could only find someone to go with.”

Jon looked up in surprise. “You don't have a date for homecoming?”

Marco shook his head. “Well, I've gotten a few offers, but I turned them down. I'm just waiting for the right guy.”

“Oh.” Jon whispered disappointedly.

Marco laughed. “You, Jon.”

“Me?”

Marco nodded and then slowly leaned down to kiss him.

It was Jon’s first kiss and it was exhilarating, but something felt off. He pushed it aside and as the kiss ended he looked up and blushed.

Marco walked towards his door and blowing a kiss, entered his house. Jon melted.

  
  


* * *

On the other side of town, Ronan sat in an empty booth at Paper Lantern.

Ronan had been sitting there for an hour and a half and while Paper Lantern was his favorite place to eat Chinese food, he could barely look at the beef and broccoli in front of him.

“Still workin' on that?”

Ronan’s head popped up and to his surprise saw Spencer Wong in a busboy uniform.

“Hey.” He said weakly.

“Hey.“

“We go to school together.”

“You're Lovett's friend.”

They stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments until Spencer pointed at the numerous plates on the table.

"You want me to heat that up for you?”

“You're not supposed to use your powers outside of school.” Ronan said knowingly.

Spencer stared at him. “I was just gonna stick it in the microwave, but okay.”

Ronan took a breath and pointed at the other end of the booth. “Uh, I was supposed to be meeting Jonathan here, but, um...You want to sit down?”

Spencer nodded. “I think I can spare a minute.”

"Spencer sat down and while it was quiet for a moment, Ronan began to talk. They talked for what seemed like twenty minutes, until Ronan stopped and his tone shifted into something more fragile.

“You know how you grow lima beans in school? Jonathan could not figure out why mine grew so quickly. It was driving him crazy. So finally I took mercy on him and I told him about my powers, and we've been best friends ever since.”

Spencer nodded. “Hmm. And falling for him, was that before or after the lima beans?”

Ronan paled.” What? I am not in love with Jon. Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah.”

“Great.”

“So why don't you tell him?”

“Well, I was gonna ask him to homecoming, but there's two problems. He likes somebody else and that somebody is perfect.”

“Hmm. You know what I think? To let true love remain unspoken is the quickest route to a heavy heart.” Spencer did not acknowledge the tears forming in Ronan’s eyes.

“Wow. That is really deep.”

Spencer was uncomfortable with the emotions and quickly diverted. “Yeah. And your lucky numbers are…four, five and-."

“I gotta go.” Ronan climbed out of the booth and smiled sadly at Spencer. “Thanks for listening,”

“See ya later hippie.”


	4. Never comprehending the race has long gone by

Jonathan Lovett was pretty well aware of when something was off with Ronan. He knew the cues of Ronan getting stressed or Ronan overworking himself, because even at 15 Ronan had accomplished more than Jon had ever had. Even if Ronan would deny it and begin to list off Jon’s talents.

The next day, however, Jon was too much on cloud nine to care that Ronan had been silent the whole bus ride.

It was only when they got to the quad and sat down on the steps that Jon tilted his head.

“Ronan? Ro? Is everything okay?”

Ronan nodded tightly. “Here, I got you a fortune cookie.”

Fortune cookies were the only thing Jon truly liked from Chinese restaurants these days, although he would staunchly deny that the fortunes could actually predict things.

_"You lost that account Dad, because you listened to the guys on Fox Business, Dad. It wasn’t because a piece of paper had some writing on it that said ‘Tough waters ahead, but you will persevere’ on it"_ was something Jon had once said to his father.

Still it was a gift from Ronan and he accepted it. “Oh. I love these.” Jon opened the fortune cookie, but mysteriously there wasn’t one in there.

“Did the multi-billion fortune cookie business run out of paper?” He joked.

Ronan shook his head. “No, Jonathan. I have the fortune. It’s ‘Your loyalties are clear when it comes to friends.’"

Jon paled and he quickly ran through the events of the past week. Then he remembered: The Dinner. “Oh my God. Oh, I totally spaced. I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. Please don’t be mad. I know you must want to kill me. I should have called.”

Surprisingly, Ronan took the apology well and smiled softly. “Actually, just the opposite despite your brain density. I have something to tell you.”

Jon’s head tilted in interest. “What is it? Can I guess? If I guess, can I get a hint?”

“OK. OK. It's about homecoming.” Ronan laughed.

Jon’s eyes widened. “Really? I have news about homecoming too!”

Ronan paused and sucked in a breath. “Really? Then you go first.”

“Are you sure? Because I don’t want you to explode holding back your news.”

Ronan laughed. “Go ahead, Jonathan.”

“I'm going with Marco Rubio! Can you believe it? Me, a freshman, going with the most popular guy at Sky High. He asked me of all people.”

For some reason that Jon didn’t understand, Ronan’s face fell and paled. “That's awesome!” He choked out. It was the same voice he used whenever someone asked him about his father’s identity or explained away his abilities as a rich person’s fluke. Jon wanted to reach out and make the hurt go away, but he didn’t know how.

“What's your homecoming news?” Jon tried, hoping to brighten Ronan up.

“I'm going too.” Ronan said a bit waveringly.

Jon felt a pain. It must have been heartburn. “Really. Who with?”

“Who with?”

“Yeah, who asked you?”

Ronan’s eyes looked over Jon’s head, which wasn’t that hard considering Jon hadn’t had a growth spurt since what seemed like forever. “Oh, uh…Spencer. Spencer Wong.”

Jon’s heart hurt even more. Maybe he needed to lay off the diet coke. But he pushed it away once again, due to the absolute confusion of the situation and the blindsided nature of it all.

“Spencer Wong? You can't be serious. Ronan, the guy's a psycho. He’s a literal pyromaniac. And he's my biggest enemy! How could you go with him? When did you even start hanging out? What’s going on?”

Ronan shook his head in what appeared to be disgust. ”Last night, the Paper Lantern.”

Jon watched Ronan walked away and as he heard the bell ring, wondering what he had been missing since he was placed on the Hero track.

* * *

Lunchtime found an unusual seating arrangement. Ronan took a seat at Spencer’s table.

"Hi, Spencer.” Ronan said cheerily.

Spencer looked at Ronan like Ronan had lost his grip on reality. “Did I do or say anything last night to make you think this is OK?”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “So funny, I swear, you and Jonathan are such wise acres. Anyway, you’re never gonna believe what happened. I was about to ask Jon to homecoming when, wouldn't you know it, I said I was going with you instead.”

Spencer spit out his food and began to cough. “I don't remember that being the plan. Also, wise acre? Are you my grandfather?”

Ronan was about to interject when Tommy came over with his tray and sat down next to him. “Hey. You do the history homework? I wanted to spend a little more time with it, but my brother’s mean cat died last night.”

Ronan pursed his lips and rubbed Tommy’s back.

Tommy shook his head. “Don’t feel bad, the cat was mean as hell. It was actually really funny the way it happened.”

Spencer looked at him in abject horror. “What are you doin’?”

“Sitting.” Tommy shrugged, looking at Spencer with confusion.

Spencer cleared his throat and dropped his voice. "No one sits here but me.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Anyway.” Tommy said, turning to Ronan. “What’d you get for four? I wasn't sure if Tigerman was, A) bitten by a radioactive tiger or B) bitten by a regular tiger then exposed to radiation. I wonder if there are any aquatic superheroes we are going to learn about, because I was reading this book and -"

“Hey. Are we eating at Spencer's table now?” Dan asked. “I feel extremely dangerous.” He promptly sat next to Spencer.

Spencer wanted to gouge his eyes out with a spoon. “Whoa. Whoa.” He growled.

If it wasn’t bad enough, Favs quickly sat down on his other side. “Hey! I saw that there’s going to be a talent show next semester. What if I play piano in the dark while I glow.”

Tommy smiled. “That’d be cool. Show off your literal magic fingers.”

Favs beamed and then, as if noticing that Spencer was the one sitting next to him, leaned over to Tommy. “Is this guy bothering you, Tom?”

“Try the other way around.” Spencer gritted out and then, with a exasperated sigh, put his head on the table. “Does anyone else need a date for homecoming?”

Dan raised his hand, but quickly put it down when he saw Spencer’s glare.

“Please, I promise. I'll make this as painless as possible.” Ronan begged. His eyes began watering and when Spencer turned, he could see why: Lovett was walking with Marco, his usual curls gone, and looking like a kicked puppy seeing his friends sit with Spencer.

“So you're not doin' this just 'cause you like me or anything. You're doin' it to get to Lovett?”

Ronan nodded.

“Then I'm in. But I'm not renting a tux.” He promptly stormed off.

“Yeah, homecoming's stupid.” Favs said without conviction, gazing at Tommy who was immersed in a book about whales.

Tommy looked up. "So? I think I'll go. Only get one first homecoming, plus they’ll spike the punch.”

Favs straightened up. "Yeah, I think I’ll go too.”

* * *

“And is this the trigger?”Jon asked as he tried his best to feel the object in front of him

“No, that's the fusion device.”

Marco, as promised, was helping him memorize the pieces of the anti-gravity gun so that he would be able to make it without technopathic help in next week’s exam.

He reached out again, disoriented by the blindfold and then felt something smaller. “OK. Is...? What's this?” He asked in confusion. He was dumb when it came to seeing objects blind, but he was pretty sure this small object wasn’t a part of the device.

“That’s my phone.” Marco laughed, kissing him on the forehead and taking the blindfold. Jon blushed.

Suddenly, Marco’s phone began to ring. “Hello?” He answered.

Jon immediately tensed when he heard Marco’s voice shift. “Wait. Susan, I can't understand you when you're all talking at once. OK, better. What? Oh, no. OK, hold on. Let me call you back.”

Jon frowned, “What's up?”

Marco sighed, as if he had seen this coming. “Problem with the homecoming decorations. Susan forgot to order the fog machine, so I might have to build one myself.”

Jon was crestfallen. That meant the date was over.

"Or maybe do you think the committee could stop by? You know to figure it out?”

Jon winced. “Ooh, I don't know because, uh, my parents are on a distress call, and they won't be home till late. I'm not supposed to have anyone here."

“It's cool. I was just hoping we could spend a little more time together, but I guess I'll just see you at the dance?”

Marco sounded so disappointed and Jon felt his anxiety increase. This was the first relationship he had and he didn’t want to ruin it.” He closed his eyes and tried to think of what Favs, Dan, Tommy, and Ronan would tell him to make him calm down, especially trying to think where that tea Ronan had grown for him that made him feel better. He shook his head

“Uh, I... If it's...Um, if it's only a few people.”

“Super.” Marco grinned slyly.

Forty-five minutes later, things were out of hand. There were people everywhere.

“Marco! You said this was supposed to be homecoming committee.” Jon said looking around. He knew his father would be glad that he had “hero” friends, but he didn’t think that even he would go for this.

Marco looked annoyed. ”This is the homecoming committee.”

Jon bit his lip, unaware of where Marco’s tone had come from, but stopped when he saw Marco’s eyes soften.

“OK, OK, so a few extra people showed up. But, Jon, you're popular! That's what happens!Just relax. Let’s go into the study. Here, come with me. OK?”

Jon nodded and quickly followed. The music was still booming and Jon frowned.

“So, what's on your mind?”

“My friends.”

Marco laughed in confusion. “What about 'em? They're all here.”

Jon shook his head.

“Oh. You mean the sidekicks.” He spit out the word like it was poison.

Taken aback, he pulled out his phone. “I think I'm just gonna call Favs and Ronan, tell 'em to come over here because-.“

Marco snatched the phone from his hands and then gently ran his hands through Jon’s hair to try to spread the gel so that his hair wouldn’t be so curly. “Jon, you are such a nice guy. But, honestly, do you think they'd have fun?I mean, don't you think they'd feel a little awkward?”

“No. I think they'd be OK.” Jon needed Favs and he needed Ronan. He couldn’t understand why Marco wasn’t getting that.

“Trust me. They'd be miserable.” Marco cupped his face. “Now enough about friends. I wish there was somewhere we could go to be alone.” It was almost like a leading statement.

Jon looked up, and gulped. “I think there is.”

They found themselves in the secret sanctum a few moments later, walking around.

“Wow.” Marco said, interested in all the trophies and memorabilia that had been collected from each battle. He walked over to the Pacifier, examining it closely.

Jon chuckled. “When you spend your whole life kicking butt and taking names. I guess you make a lot of memories.”

“Well, maybe we should make a few of our own.” Marco straightened and looked at him slyly, pulling him in for a kiss.

Jon didn’t hear or see the Pacifier float from its pedestal away.

* * *

When they went back up to the house, a commotion was going on in the living room. Marco smiled tightly. “Can you go get me a soda? Diet, non-caffeinated soda?”

Jon tilted his head at Marco’s weird expression, but he nodded and went to get it. He had been doing a lot of head tilting lately. If he wasn’t careful, his neck would stick like that. The gang would find it hilarious, Ronan especially.

He walked out of the kitchen and suddenly he heard Ronan’s voice and his eyes widened, because it was Ronan’s upset voice.

Then he heard Marco. “He threw a party and didn't invite you. You're just embarrassing him. You're just embarrassing yourself."

He felt rage begin to form. Why was Marco doing this? To Ronan of all people. Then he heard something that made his heart stop.

“And, um, when you see Jon, can you tell him that I never want to talk to him again?”

He dropped the soda and ran back into the party, seeing Ronan slam the door closed. He ran after him.

“Ronan. Ronan! Ronan! Ronan!” Ronan had never been a runner and neither had Jon, but somehow Ronan was able to stay at least five feet away.

Suddenly Ronan stopped and turned around, tears pooling in his blue eyes but they were frigid and piercing at the same time. “Have fun with Marco. You two deserve each other.”

Jon started to breathe heavily. He didn’t understand. He ran back to the house where Marco was waiting, an annoyed expression on his face.

“What did you say to Ronan?” Jon demanded.

“Nothing. I mean, I just told him the truth. You're a hero, he's a sidekick. He was holding you back.”

Jon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What? Why would you do that? Ronan's been my best friend since kindergarten. Can’t you see that?”

Marco huffed. “You’ve got new friends now, and I think that you need to figure out whether you want to hang with us or with those losers.”

Jon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could he have been so blind to Marco and the person that Marco truly was. How could he deal with the fact that he himself was no better.

“Come on. Let's go back to partying.”

Jon had had it.

“No, forget it. I'm not going anywhere with you, not now or not to homecoming. Might as well just find yourself a new date, Marco.”

Marco turned around, his eyes steely. “You're dumping me? Whoa-whoa-whoa, let's get something straight, OK? You do not dump me! Not the night before the dance!“

“Sorry, Marco. I, uh, just did. You're dumped! Oh and just for your information, I can’t get something straight, because I’m gay as a rainbow. That's it. Everyone, out! Party's over!”

The music stopped abruptly and at first he thought that his courage had caused it.

“Oh please. Don’t stop on our account.”

Jon turned around. It was his parents.

* * *

The room had quickly cleared and once it had, his parents stood in front of him. Jon didn’t care. He was already nauseous at what he did to Ronan and his friends. Breaking the rules just made his list of disasters longer.

“Your father and I fly to Europe for two hours, and you throw a party? I have got half a mind not to let you go to homecoming.” His mother paced.

Jon nodded. “That’s fine. I'm not going anyway.”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa.” His father looked at him in disbelief. “Your mom said she had half a mind. Jonathan Ira Lovett, you have to go to the homecoming dance. We all have to because we're introducing the world to the Lovett Three-the greatest family of superheroes mankind has ever known.”

“I don’t care. I shouldn’t be a part of it because I’m not me. I haven’t been me since I got these powers.”

His mother’s face changed into one of worry. “Did something happen, Jonathan?”

Jon bit his lip. "I don't want to talk about it.”

“Well, we're gonna talk about it because we promised Marco we'd go to the dance!” Robert boomed. “And when a Lovett makes a promise, son that promise is kept!”

“I promise you, Dad, I'm not going. Besides, I’m getting pretty good at not keeping promises. Promises that actually matter.” He ran upstairs to his room and locked the door, trying desperately to take deep breaths. He picked up his phone and dialed the number he knew by heart. “Hello? Ronan? Pick up, Ronan. Pick up, pick up, pick up.”

The phone rang repeatedly until he got Ronan’s voicemail box. It was Ronan saying the dumbest and corniest lines with the warmest voice possible. He knew it was warm because Jon had been there for the recording and had been playfully teasing him about the choice. Once he heard the beep, he sighed.

“Fine, don't pick up. It's me. I'm going to the Paper Lantern. If you get this message, meet me there. Ronan, please. I am so sorry.”

He opened his window and climbed down the makeshift ladder that had been attached to the tree next to his window. Ronan had made it so the rungs were actually a growth of the tree instead of chopping down a tree to make them.

He hoped that there would be future memories between him and Ronan (and of course, the rest of his friends).

When he got to the Paper Lantern, Ronan was not there, but he snagged a booth and ordered all the food that Ronan loved.

It wasn’t until 30 minutes later, when he called for the twentieth time, that he knew inside that Ronan wasn’t going to show up. “Ronan, just pick up. In case you didn't get my earlier messages, I'm at the Paper Lantern, and I-”

“Message box full.”

“What are you doing here?”

Jon looked up and then startled: It was Spencer.

“I'm, uh, looking for Ronan. Do you know where he is?” He asked. softly putting his head down.

“How should I know?”

“You're taking him to homecoming.” Jon said sarcastically. What Ronan saw in this guy he didn’t know. Then again, he couldn’t judge. He thought Marco was a good person.

“Oh, yeah. Right.”

Jon sighed. "Well, you don't have to worry about me ruining your night.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I'm not going.”

“Hmm. Well, that sucks. Because we're only going together to make you jealous.”

Jon’s head shot up. “Huh?”

“Dude, you're so stupid. He's totally into you.”

Jon’s heart began to race. When he had first come to terms with the fact that he was gay, his first thought had been of Ronan. How Ronan made him feel safe and understood when his dad was a jerk, how much he enjoyed teasing Ronan but being able to make sure Ronan took care of himself (because you could say all that you wanted about teenage hormones, but there was something weird that made Ronan want to eat crap like dandelion greens and cottage cheese with anchovies). How he had just pushed the feelings aside, because he thought he was confused. But to hear that those feelings might be reciprocated?

Then his heart sank. “Not after tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if Ronan or any of the other guys ever want to talk to me again.”

Spencer nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know. You must have been a real jerk. Because no matter what I do, I can't get 'em to stop talking to me.”

"Thanks."

* * *

Jon sat on the couch as he watched his parents make sure they had everything.

“We're taking off now, hon. Still time to change your mind and come with us.” Fran Lovett said worriedly.

Jon shook his head. “Nah, I don't think so. Mom, you ever feel like you messed something up so bad that you'll never be able to fix it?”

His mother nodded knowingly and knelt down in front of him. “Do you remember when you were in Oliver?”

Jon nodded slowly

“There was a quote that stuck with me, that was from the novel ‘My dear child,' said the old gentleman, moved by the warmth of Oliver's sudden appeal, 'you need not be afraid of my deserting you, unless you give me cause.’ People make mistakes, Jonathan. That's what high school's about. Heck, that's what life's about. The key is to learn from them. If someone is a true friend, you'd be surprised at how understanding they can be. I think you can turn it around."

“I hope my friends see it that way.” Jon sniffled and his mother hugged him, stroking a hand through his curls.

His mother stood up and smiled at him. She walked towards the door and then turned. “Do me a favor? Put this away for me. I caught your father sneaking it out under his cape. He's convinced that everyone wants to reminisce with him.”

She handed him the old yearbook and Jon laughed wetly. “I bet. Will do.”

“Love ya.”

“Love you too.”

As he walked to the sanctum poles, he flipped through the yearbook casually until something caught his eye. It was a picture of Sam Trent. He brought the page closer and was mesmerized by how familiar the man looked. Almost like it was an older version of…

“Marco!”

He ran to the pole and slid down, turning on the lights frantically in the memorabilia section. When he got there, his greatest fear was confirmed. The Pacifier was gone. Marco was Royal Pain’s son and Jon had led him right to the weapon that had killed Marco’s father.

“Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” He walked around in circles, beginning to panic. He needed to get to Sky High. For his parents, for the Sky High student body, for his parents, for Ronan. He took a deep breath and managed to stop his hand from shaking enough in order to grab his wallet. He looked through it and pulled out the card he was looking for. He dialed the number and waited for it to ring.

“Plouffe? Hi. It’s me Jonathan. I gotta get to Sky High.”


	5. I'll stop the world and melt with you

Meanwhile at Sky High, Robert Lovett paced anxiously in the hallway, right outside the school gym where the dance was being held.

“Robert, you are going to wear the floor out. Remember when we got that fancy rug and you walked over it so hard that I had to explain to the rabbi that a feral dog had attacked us and the rug on the way home?”

Robert huffed. “Fran, we can't unveil ‘The Lovett Trio’-.“

“I thought you said we were going to be called ‘The Lovett Three.’”

“I don’t know yet. None of it rolls off the tongue. I don’t like it anymore. But anyway, without Jonathan. It's just-it’s just not the same. And we really don't need another award. I think we should go home.”

Fran nodded and they were about to turn and leave when the spotlight was pointed directly at them and Principal Obama’s voice echoed through the speakers. “Welcome, Latusha and The Executor.”

There was thunderous applause and they had no choice but to walk in, giving their best smiles and nods as they approached the stage.

Principal Obama, who was wearing a dark navy suit (and who Favs thought looked rather charming if you asked him), smiled and waited for the applause to die down. Then he began. “Good evening. First, a quick announcement. The owner of the blue cold fusion-powered jet pack, you left your lights on.”

“Sorry. Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry.” Mr. Emmanuel said embarrassed as he ran out of the gym.

“And now, please help me welcome the head of the homecoming committee, the boy who made all this possible, Marco Rubio.”

There was once again thunderous applause and Marco smiled for a minute, before beginning.

“Thank you, Principal Obama. And a very special thank you goes to our guests of honor and the recipients of our first-ever Hero of the Year award, The Executor and Latusha. And to mark this occasion, we've planned a special tribute to the most powerful super-being ever to walk the halls of Sky High: Me!”

The crowd gasped and with a snap of his fingers, posters came down with the emblem of “Royal Pain” and Marco’s red suit was transformed into a suit of gold and black metal and a voice modifier. Next to him appeared a short, chubby man who vaguely looked like a serial killer with depression.

“Royal Pain is a teenage boy?” Robert said tilting his head.

“Yes, I'm a teenage boy, you idiot! How I ever lost to a fool like you I'll never know. Now prepare to be Pacified!”

“Do you honestly think you can kill me with that little toy gun of yours?” Robert laughed and looked at his wife with a smug grin

“My dear Executor, who said anything about killing you?

And with a cock of The Pacifier, shot a laser beam at him.

He screamed in pain and a cloud of smoke surrounded him. When it dissipated, Fran ran over to where her husband used to be and where a bundle of clothes now lay. She picked up the bundle of clothes only to discover what was underneath: an infant version of her husband.

She growled and jumped up, flying through the air, but she was no match for the weapon and was saved by Mr. Gibbs who caught her in his arms and began shielding her.

“Rock-a-bye, baby!” Royal Pain’s minion cackled.

It was then that the firing became faster and faster, teens left and right running to try to shield themselves from the blasts.

Principal Obama blasted Royal Pain, temporarily stunning him and looked to Coach Axelrod.

“AXE! Get the kids out of here.” And then with a blast, he too was an infant.

Axelrod ran to the back of the room where Warren, Ronan, Tommy, Dan, and Favs were standing. “Hothead! Find an exit! Get as many people out as you can! I'll slow him down.”

They began to run to the exits like the rest of the student body had, only to discover that Susan Collin’s and her clones, Mitch, and Paul had brought the gates down, trapping everyone but themselves inside the gym.

* * *

Spencer panicked and looked at the rest of them, Dan instantaneously melting. “Dude! Not the time!" Spencer roared.

“If you will trust me, I can open a grate from the inside.” Dan’s disembodied voice gargled. Sure enough within a few seconds, Dan had disappeared down a vent grate and then pushed the top open. The four of them scrambled through the vent opening and were greeted by darkness.

Dan, back in his corporeal form, began crawling away from the opening. “Let’s go,” he said taking the lead. The vent tunnel was small, cramped, and dark. “Hey Spencer, would you mind torching up?”

“Only if you want to get barbecued.” Dan crawled a bit faster.

As if fate was shining down on them, it was at that moment when the tunnel began to glow a neon yellow.

Ronan paused to let Favs pass him, smiling widely.

“Gentlemen, if I may lead the way?” Favs chirped

“Then all the reindeer loved him.” Tommy sang in awe. If possible, Favs began to grow even brighter.

“Way to glow, Zach.”

“Thanks, man.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Jon anxiously stood by the bus door waiting for Plouffe to park.“Thanks again for the lift, Plouffe. Now, if I'm not back in 20 minutes-.“

“Come in after you! Got it!”

Jon couldn’t help but smile. He loved Plouffe. “I was gonna say go get help.”

Plouffe nodded. “Go get help. Got it! Now get in there!”

The bus door remained closed so he braced himself and ran through it, ignoring the _'Sorry'_ Plouffe yelled in the background. The school was quiet, too quiet and he was afraid of what that meant.

He was nearly to the gym when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw glowing coming out of a vent.

He ripped the vent grate open and out popped Favs.

“Lovett, you came!” Favs smiled

Jon nodded and then took a deep breathe as everyone got out of the vent. Everyone he cared about, including Spencer (because to be there for Ronan was the greatest thing a person could do), was safe and unharmed. Ronan was unharmed.

He slowed his breathing and then started to talk a mile a minute. “You’re never gonna believe this Marco. High school Senior Marco-“

Ronan interrupted him. “Is Royal Pain's son.”

Jon began again.”Yeah, and he-“

“Stole the Pacifier.”

This time he was interrupted by Spencer. Apparently, Jon was Captain Obvious tonight. “Right.”

Favs nodded. “And he turned everybody into babies, buddy, including your parents.”

Jon’s eyes widened. "OK. That I didn't know.”

"I think that this is even more than the great Will Stronghold can handle.” Ronan said snidely,

Jon nodded and blushed. It was time to be an actual hero and do the hard thing. “He's right. It's gonna take all of us.”

Ronan looked up in shock.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “All of who? You and Spencer? The rest of us are only sidekicks.”

Lovett reddened further. He had helped in causing this feeling of worthlessness among his friends. “Just because you have powers, that doesn't make you a hero. Sometimes it just makes you a jerk. Makes me a jerk. I guess what I'm trying to say is-.“

Ronan’s face softened. “We get it. You've been a jerk. A massive one.”

Jon stepped forward.“Ronan, in case my homecoming date ends up killing me tonight.” He paused and reached out his hand towards Ronan’s. “I just want you to know that-“

He was interrupted by Ronan rushing toward him and kissing him and he found that he didn’t mind at all. Despite only being 15 and not having a ton of experience, kissing Ronan felt like coming home. He felt his worries drift away and tried to bite back a moan as Ronan attempted to deepen the kiss. Unfortunately that didn’t get to happen.

* * *

“Isn't that sweet? I hate sweet!” A raspy voice called out. They broke apart, Jon and Ronan still holding each other. Ronan’s grip tightened slightly, as if he was afraid that if he let go something would happen to Jon.

They looked up and saw not only Susan Collins, but Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell standing there. His friends started to tense, Spencer taking off his jacket and dropping it on the floor.

“You guys are a part of this too?” Jon asked with disgust in his voice. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Go take care of Marco.” Spencer walked up to stand beside him. “We’ll handle these clowns.”

Jon looked at Ronan and he smiled softly, nodding.“Go.”

Jon looked around quickly, and not seeing a way to get to the gym without passing the villains, ran through the wall to the left.

He kept running through walls until he made it to the gym. There he saw baby upon baby in their own personal car seats being transported into some sort of baby-ski lift that led outside.

He ran to the baby that looked like his mother and could feel a rush of anger and deep sadness. This is what he had caused. He looked around again and then realized he couldn’t find his father.

He decided to follow the lift where it lead outside the gym and could hear noises. Once he reached the doors, he could hear someone talking. It was Marco and he was holding a baby. Jon quickly ducked behind a beam and did his best to listen in.

“I take you back my dear Executor to your senior year at Sky High. A time before anyone knew what a Technopath was. So a brilliant, but misunderstood, guy named Sam Trent was written off as a science geek and stuck in Sidekick class. He hatched a plan, so daring, so visionary, to start his very own Supervillain Academy and raise a generation of heroes from scratch as villains. But first he had to destroy the very institution that dared to spurn his genius! And now, so many years later, that plan is complete. My only regret: That this may be the finest supervillain speech ever given, and you don't even know what I'm saying.”

Jon took this time to jump out. “But I do,” he shouted. “Look, Marco, I'm sorry that my parents destroyed your dad. Now put my dad down and end this.”

Marco scoffed. “No one could defeat Royal Pain. When the Pacifier exploded, I wasn't destroyed. I turned into a baby. Cruzer here took me in and raised me as his own.”

His sidekick cackled wildly, taking Jon’s father into his arms, “Daddy’s little champ.”

Jon watched as Marco’s face contorted in rage and slapped his sidekick in the face. “I told you never to call me that!”

“That’s right. Royal Pain wasn't my father. Royal Pain is me!” Marco smirked.

“Oh, my God.” Jon said in disbelief. “I made out with an old man and a child predator.”

Marco’s face contorted in rage again and his face mask once again returned. He took off and despite Jon trying to brace himself, was violently pushed through the glass doors and a dozen walls both of them ending up back in the gym. Jon groaned as he landed on the gym floor. He hoped that, wherever his friends were, they were okay.

* * *

Back in the hallway where Jon had left them, Spencer had ignited and had attempted to blast Mitch, only to be disoriented by Mitch’s speed. But in a flash, he was stable and chasing after him.

Susan closed her eyes and in an instant six clones stood before her, all geared to fight. Ronan gulped and began to flee as the cheerleader clones cartwheeled towards her. With just Dan left, since Favs and Tommy had climbed back into the vent, he was grabbed roughly by Paul and slammed into the lockers that hadn’t been busted by Jon. Paul was roughly six feet away which for the first time, finally gave him an advantage. He saw Paul’s other fist coming at him and he immediately melted into a popsicle and fled into the bathroom.

Paul came into the room steaming, forcing every bathroom stall open and finally getting to the last one. He peered into the toilet as it bubbled and he shook his head. Dan’s power was a visible puddle, not a camoflauging puddle. He learned further down and then he heard something shift above him.

“Take this, Paul!” Dan pushed his head into the toilet and flushed it. When he saw that Paul was about to get out, he transformed into a basketball and bounced on his head. Making it so that even after the toilet stopped flushing, he would be stuck.

He ran out of the stall and looked left and right. He could hear Spencer’s frustrated grunts as Mitch evaded each fire blast, but then something told him to transform into a puddle. Right when he did, Mitch in fact came running down the hall and not seeing Dan, tripped and flew through the air, conking out.

In another room, Ronan was cornered. He had managed to make it to the cafeteria but there were so many of Susan’s clones.

“Come on, sidekick!” Susan’s clones taunted. “You gonna fight back?”

Ronan shook his head. “I don't believe in using my powers for violence.”

Main Susan laughed in disbelief. “I don't believe you even have any powers! Which is probably why your mom kept adopting those kids.” The clones kept getting closer and closer, repeating the same cheer of “Go, Susan! Beat Ronan! Go, Susan! Beat Ronan!”

Finally, there was no where else to go. Ronan was up against a window.

Susan sashayed up to him and tutted at him. “Hmm! Looks like this is the end of you. I hope you’re ready for a pacifying. Maybe we should make you witness Lovett die first so you can’t do anything about it.”

Ronan grew red and clenched his fists. “Big mistake.” With all the power in him, trees and vines broke through the window behind him, trapping the Susans and rendering them useless.

Main Susan tried to struggle out of her binds. “But I thought you were a sidekick!” She whined.

Ronan scoffed. “I am a sidekick.’

He was about to run to find Jon when Susan cried out in distress. “Don't leave us here to die! Royal Pain sabotaged the antigravity device! The whole school's gonna fall out of the sky! We only have 10 minutes!”

Ronan’s eyes widened and he strengthened the vines grip before running to find the others.

* * *

Because of who his mother was and his family, he had installed the site map on his phone and so when he found the rest of the group, he pulled it up.“Here's the antigravity room. Royal Pain sealed off every route but there is this conduit.”

Dan scoffed. “Right. You'd have to be like a rat to fit in there.”

Everyone looked at Tommy who backed up instantly. “Oh, great. This is so stupid.”

Five minutes later found Favs lying on the floor giving guinea pig Tommy directions.

“OK. OK, you're doin' great, Tom. Looks great. Go about 5 feet. There should be a opening on your right.” Favs smiled and turned to look at Dan who was holding Ronan’s phone. “Look at those cute little legs.”

He turned back to the vent.“Find the access panel. It leads to the generator.”

Ronan nodded and taking a deep breath looked around. He saw Spencer leaning against the lockers and forced out a choked smile.

Spencer nodded towards the gym. “Let’s go get him.”

Ronan and Spencer ran.

* * *

The battle between Royal Pain and Jon was finally heating up.

Royal Pain picked Jon up and threw him to the floor. He was about to punch him when Jon used his heat to rocket Royal Pain up into the disco ball which came crashing down.

Royal Pain escaped at the last minute, but Jon pinned him down and geared up to punch him.Then he heard Ronan’s voice shout his name. Distracted, he looked up and tried to make sure he was okay.

He didn’t notice Royal Pain powering up his suit to deliver a super sonic punch. A super sonic punch that sent him through the glass windows and certainly to his death.

He could hear Ronan’s anguished scream and felt himself panic, a million thoughts rushing through his head. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to help reform the system and make Sky High a better school that didn’t divide people. He didn't want to leave his friends who were his family, and yes that was including Spencer. He wanted to show his father how things could be different. He didn’t want to leave Ronan with another scar. He didn’t want to leave Ronan. He thought of Ronan and suddenly it felt like time stopped. He didn’t feel like he was falling anymore.

Had he died? He hesitantly opened his eyes and to his surprise he was hovering in the air. He moved his arm and suddenly he was flying. He was flying.

He flew up to the window where he had been knocked through and could hear Marco laugh hysterically. “And there goes your last chance of stopping me.”

“We'll see about that!”

Royal Pain turned. “Huh? You're flying? That's impossible!” He raged.

“Surprised? So am I.”

He flew in and tackled Royal Pain to the ground, causing the tile underneath them to jump as if there had been an earthquake and with a final punch, rendered him unconscious. He took a deep breath and looked up to see Ronan looking at him with tears in his eyes and Spencer looking suspiciously gaunt.

Ronan ran over to him, bringing Jon into a hug and putting his face into Jon’s curls and rubbing his back. “You’re okay, You’re okay, You’re okay.” Jon could also feel the warmth of Spencer’s hand on his shoulder. It felt nice.

The moment was quickly ruined by the ground falling out from underneath them.

“The school is falling!” Ronan screamed.

Jon nodded and despite being barely able to stand up, was able to position himself so he could once again fly out the window. He flew as fast he could to the bottom of the school and did his best when he got there, to stop the school from its freefall. The school was getting closer and a closer to the ground and with one final push, managed to stop it from crashing into a couple’s house.

Inside Sky High, Tommy had successfully chewed through the wires that had disabled the anti-gravity device and the school gently floated back up into the sky.

Thirty minutes later, the exhausted heroes gathered up the villains and placed them in the power nulling detention room.

As they walked out to help unload the babies that had been loaded to the buses, Royal Pain’s sidekick attempted to make a run for it, but was promptly stopped by the one person who knew how.

“There's only one person authorized to transport superheroes. And that's David Plouffe, bus driver. And I'm David Plouffe, bus driver.” And with a punch, David Plouffe knocked the clown out.

* * *

The homecoming was rescheduled for the next week, but unlike the first one it went on without a hitch.

As Tommy and Favs hung around the punch table, they looked around at the happy teens. Even Spencer had found someone to dance with.

“This is so sweet, I could hurl.” Tommy said dryly.

Favs nodded quickly. “Tell me about it.”

Tommy bit his lip, looked down, and then looked at Favs searchingly. “Do you wanna dance with me?”

“Yes!” Favs chirped and then settled. “I mean, yeah. Yeah.”

Tommy laughed and eagerly grabbed Favs hand, leading him to the dance floor.

There was one couple, however, who were not taking advantage of the dance floor and that was Jon and Ronan.

Instead of dancing, they were making up for lost time: Being totally cliche and making out in a tree and later, slow dancing in the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. If you want to of course.


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